"Friends Together!" collectible card
Moondance is one of the main characters in Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, voiced by Barbara Jean Kearney and by Jean Louisa Kelly. She is a mighty unicorn closely bonded through an Enchanted Jewel called the Moon Stone with her rider and best friend Fallon as Fallon's own magic animal. The episode "Vale of the Unicorns" is centered around Moondance and her relatives.
Moondance is a princess of unicorns, daughter of Queen Sierra, always ready for exploring. The magical unicorn is very gentle and brings but these same qualities in her Jewel Rider partner, Fallon, who often has a tough exterior. Well paired with her especially daring rider, Moondance and Fallon are both graceful, agile and athletic, forming a formidable pair and are practically inseparable on their adventures.
Official description[]
Fallon and Moondance using their Moon Stone against the wild magic in "Travel Trees Can't Dance"
From the Project Summary 6/26/95 internal guide:
"MOONDANCE - Champion Unicorn
Moondancer (sic) is Fallon's best friend, a champion, thoroughbred unicorn. Moondancer is built for speed. She will do anything for Fallon. Together they push to be as good or better than the boys. Moondancer and Fallon share the Moon Stone, the Jewel of Illusion."
In the show[]
Fallon and Moondance ride out to fight in "Mystery Island"
Besides Tamara and Princess Gwenevere, Fallon has another best friend: her steed, the mighty unicorn Moondance. They two are bound to protect Gwenevere and are more at home wandering the Great Forests than being cooped up in the Crystal Palace. Moondance has an aerodynamic saddle special and riding gear to increase speed. With her head and beautiful swirled horn lowered, she looks like a bullet, eating up the kilometres and practically flying through the woods. Moondance pushes herself especially hard for Fallon as they often lead the fight against the evil Lady Kale. With Moondance's help, Fallon proves to the boys of the Pack that she is as competent as they to ride with them in the service of the Crystal Palace.
Moondance is the princess of the unicorns and next in line to assume the position as queen after her mother, Queen Sierra. She has a unique color-swirl horn that sets her apart from the other unicorns and glows with power when Fallon's half of the Moon Stone is activated. The jewel can also further enhance her natural abilities even more.
Moondance and her friend Fallon in "Travel Trees Can't Dance"
Fallon and Moondance talk to one another almost all the time. In her absolute dedication to make Avalon safe from Kale and the threat of wild magic, Fallon gives the appearance of being very tough on the outside, but Moondance brings out of her a loving, sensitive, responsible, and capable girl. Moondance understands the pressure that Fallon is under being the first girl to be accepted to run with the Pack's wolf riders, but she is very patient and considerate of Fallon as she loves her unconditionally. Fallon's father Alfred accepts Fallon as a Jewel Rider only after seeing her and Moondance in action as they worked together to save Gwen from Kale.
Behind the scenes[]
"Moonglow" from the Enchanted Jewel Riders concept
Moondance was voiced by Barbara Jean Kearney in the first season and by Jean Louisa Kelly in the second (using "a little deeper" voice than in her role as Princess Gwenevere[1]), dubbed over by Sygun Liewald in German. She has been originally named Midnight[2] and Moonglow[3][4][5][6][7] and also Moondancer[8] in the various early versions of the show (sometimes even written as just Moonthing).
Originally, the character that eventually became Moondance had been actually conceived as a lion and then a horse. Art director Greg Autore said: "One of the images shows the original set of animals that were part of the first concept testing from Enchanted Camelot which became the Princess Gwenevere and Jewel Riders animated TV series. This is a purple lion in keeping with Fallon's color scheme in the show. So, about now you are thinking 'What lion? Fallon rides a blue unicorn!' Well, originally, she did not. Each of the characters had a different animal to ride. But after early concept testing it was decided to go with the unicorn for the girls and make Gwen’s unicorn into a pegasus since girls like horses more. (...) It was eventually decided that giving Fallon a horse was not magical enough, so Fallon's horse became a unicorn and Gwen’s horse became a flying unicorn."[9] Moondance was considered to receive "more clear armor plates like the girls were to have" and an ability to shoot lightning bolts from her Moon Stone in the third season.[10]
Legacy[]
In Avalon: Web of Magic, there are bonded-creature characters named Moonshadow (a wolf) and Winddancer (a griffin). Moondance also partially inspired the elemental horse Starfire.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ JEAN LOUISA KELLY (2ND VOICE OF GWEN/STARLA) INTERVIEW!
- ↑ Jewel Quest script (Enchanted Quest)
- ↑ Enchanted Jewel Riders Show Bible | The Jewel Riders Archive
- ↑ Travel Trees Can't Dance (script)
- ↑ Song of the Rainbow (script)
- ↑ Wizard's Peak (script)
- ↑ The Faery Princess (script)
- ↑ Badlands original script
- ↑ Enchanted Camelot | The Jewel Riders Archive
- ↑ Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part Four | The Jewel Riders Archive
| Characters |
|---|
| List of characters List of episodic characters Main characters |
| Magic |
|---|
  Magic, Wild Magic, Jewel Quest, Jewel Armor |
